Trolley wheel guard



July 30, 1935. Q Al KESSLER 2,009,499

TROLLEY WHEEL GUARD Filed March 16, 1954 Patented July 30, 1935 o Y.

l e 2,009,499 C arl'ArKessler, Straal, 7

Application'March 10,`193' 4,"BealfNo.' 715,362' 4 Y Y 30mm. (01.19174) l f My invention relates to adevice attached tothe counterpart pieces Irv- ISA securely bolted toyree .end of atrolley pole .Suche as used' on street gether, said body member hereinafter designated cars, andisfparticularly .designed for use on elecas the sleeve.v Thissleevelis' tapered, its'esraller tric street railways havingth'e over-head system end.being.b'ored'longitudinallyand.centrally `(as .5 of. trolleywires. Y

Thedevice embodies a hollow taperedshell or trolley pole Illtherein. 7 y .l sfle'eve the small end oi which is detachably secur- The centrai of thefsleeve isrformed with able ltoaregular. trolley pole .and the larger en d a downwardly opening pocket' I5P in whichy is formed Withsuitablebearing means for the trolley removably jiixed a certaixrtrolley rope holding lo: wheel which contacts with the usual feedvwires. andj releasing device presently to,`be described. 1,0,` Saidlatter end is also formedwith a vertical gap The rear and Widest; end` of the sleeve is formed throughiwhichonly they upper vandrear parts of rounded,jexterior1y, andinas a rearward and uptheltrolly. wheelare exposed for purposes .herein vrardly openinggve `ical 'sll y whichis theopening after .fully disclosed. Y Vof ahollowpocketfi.(seeFigLj).

; .e `An. object of this. 'sleeve device is to provide YThe trolleywheelllisj ofgfthe usual ilanged type 15 nzeans'vfvvhereby trolley polebreakage or damage and the'shaftjM rthereoi'i sjsuitably retained in a v isI practioallyeliminatedLalso damage vto the trolpair oi'horizontally rgistng bearings ISB in ley wires. span wires and trolley frogs. f pocket Ayjsaid wheelJbeing ofsuch size that only y. vzInthe accompanyingdrawing: theilpper and rearward perimetral parts of it are Fig.'1. isatop viewofmy trolley `wheel sleeve exposedithroughtheslot, las "clearly shown. ISC 2Q device fixed on the. free end of a street car 'trolley designates hallowed outginteriorparts of the sleeve pole. f. .f i'. Y merely toreducejthe weight: e n

:Fig-,21's a side elevation of Fig. 1, andfFig. 31s a Q `The rearj andl'ower extremity of the sleevewis longitudinal verticalV elevation olf one half' .of formedwith a'frearwardly directed central tongue the'dvicaaslon line V3,-3 "inFig 1. y j lTfnOrmallywithin theph'annel B ofthe trolley 25 4.is aleft end elevation of Fig. '2. j Wheel and exteriorlx 01' the'trolley lwheel the sleeve 5is-a side elevation of the rear endo! a partopposite said tongueloneach side) forms a street car.-

the [trolley pole` of which is 'incorfroundedLguardG lfrom theflower side of .which the porated my device inoperative position. sleeve Jextends forwardly in .a straight line. The

3a .lFigz c is an enlarged vertical elevation of'abou't .outer .areas oilthe entire ksleeve are, shaped in as 30 Vtheleft half .of Fig. 3, aportion of the shellicut rounded formV as possible and indicated by, shade out to .reveal -thefautomatic retrieving cord release lines; e. Y meansr and Fig. 7. is a face View of said' latter l1 isa hollow, .elOIiga'ed mechanism Chamber means embodied in. the casing removable from adapted to be slldably inserted in the pocket IEP 3.3 the main shell. Y Irom'below and retained rmly therein by a pair 35 Figf -8 is an'en'largedcross sectional detail'view ofb'ol'ts i8' passed;Y through it and the opposite through'the trolley Wheel,V as on line 8--8 -in Fig. 2. Walls. of. the sleeve,.saidl housing havinga lower In the drawing corresponding and lilre parts outlet ,concentric'oi 'pocket I,5Pwhen in operative are referred toin the following description and position.'a'nlfthefhousing beingfentirely con# ,to designatedin thelseveral views by like reference cealedlexceptiatsaid opening. In theopening of 4o characters. Y the Ahousing and at. each side of it is provided an S `designates any electric `street car ofthe kind integral. rail. .f 113.',V said rails beingV parallelV and having a'trolley pole Hllpivotally mountedat Il, having horizontally registering-.inclined facesv said'part ll'designating any. suitable type 0I ro.- I JRZ withsaidrailsterminatin'g in spaced rela- 4.; .tatable holder with the usual spring actuated tion tothe front end of. the housing for insertion meansY causing the trolley pole. to bear upwardly and. outlet of -a trolley rope trigger memberA I9 :continuously: forwproper contact of the. trolley -which willnow bedescribed. y I 'vwheel l2 with the-trolleywire i3.A f Thetrignr member i9 .is a at piece of metal 3 .Asier aslfam .aware the trolley wheel 12 has of. Vsufficient thickness to ride'freely between the 59 hitherto been rotatably .mounted onfa tubular Vai'ljaceni:faces' ofthe rails IlR, and isof approx- 50 shaft Mthe-outerendsof Whichare retained in a 4imate'ly L-shape. Inthe angle of the trigger is hii'urcatedmetal `member (not shown) having a xed atransverse pin ISP projecting both ways vshank-secured rtothe louter end of the trolley andsad'projections adapted to rideon the inner device comprises amainsemi-hollow andf. angular faces of therails. To thelower elongated member preferably .consisting of' two 4extremity lor arniot said trigger is secured, as at UNITED STATES PATENT fol-nce i trigger the trolley rope extends therefromd'irectly to the reel 22 under light tenmthefqord eig-f;

20, the upper end of the usual trolley-pole rope 2I which extends downwardly to a trolley rope retriever 22 well known in the art and fixed on the rear part of the car (see Fig. 5).

In normal conditions the trigger is in a position at the forward extremities of the rails I'IR, Within housing I'I, its inner angular opening drected forwardly and engaged by the free end of a lever 23 the front endvof which is fulcrumed on a transverse pin 24 in the frontpart of the `housing. This lever is normally pressed down by'any suitable yieldable means (preferably adjustable.)` and designated by a compression coil spring 25;v This downward pressure locks the triggerginits forward position, and while in this position of the tending under normal conditions about at rightl angles from the trolley pole, that is, whenth' trolley wheel is in operative contact withjthe. trolley wire.-

` .A U .A Y ,ll .Y v, 26 in Fig. 5 disignatesa span wire from which wire I3 is-suspended. `2`Idesignates :l1/frog on line I3-and on which the trolley whe'el'islguided when bring the pole downward butin doing'so theV poley may contact violentlyV with span `wires,ltrolley wires, 4or frogs, causing damage to either j or fall said parts. As an example, Aif the car should be in rearward motion (reverse) andthe pole springs up (as to dotted une position in Fiat), the-treuey rope may come -in contact with span wire 26 as indicated by the .dotted line ZIA, v"This immediately brings thesaid Yropev close 'tothe upright pole and in my device.l this rope then'becomesjdisengagedfrom the pole, freeingthe latterfrlom excessive pulling action on the cord'and allowing the pole -to pivot freely at I IY when itlsubsequently contacts the span'wire and damage tov said parts is eliminated. f f The meanswher'eby the pole and ropeare disengaged -is clearly shownin Figs,I 3 and 6.1 Aslthe cord 2l gets nearer to parallelfrelation'witlLthe pole the trigger I9 is tilted until itsforward inner heel ISH contacts and p-ressesflever k23 inwardly, slidably disengaging the free V,end .fof the lever Yfrom the opposite inner surfacefof the't'rig'ger, the latterthen, becoming rfree rides Qdownwardlyf on the rails'llandl is pulled outwardlythrougnthe enlarged forward opening of .the casing 1 Il (see arrow y28 Eig; 6);V l,

Ifr there should happen kto noi(-:ro'sswiseVv obstruction in the .path 'of thetrolley polewhen it is pulled down the trolley retrievingcord ishot released.r Also, whernthe pole' is pulle'lj'down, if

it should; contact! thefwire, I 3 'oriother obstacles Awith its lovvery side,f .the trolley.wheel itself cannot contact thewire because of the lower guardmeans described, namely, thennger-like guardv I 5T and Vthe adjacent rounded I areas of ,the sleeve cause ,the pole to/bev deflected fromA the, wire until. the .pole can be eased -upwardly, 'for' propercontact of thetrolley wheel with the wire.`

It will be readily understood (though not illustrated) that those metal parts of the rear end of the sleeve nearest to the trolley wheel may be lined or insulated with non-electro-conductive material so that in case the trolley becomes loose or wobbly and has a tendency to rotate in a plane out of normal, any Contact of the trolley wheel with said parts will not permit current to jump across andthus create objectionable sparking and electric flashes." Q. Y t

'A particularly'desirable feature of my sleeve is .its :rounded contour throughout its entire length,

nd consequently entire elimination of any projecting-Qrangular parts ofany kind which may Contact with and break trolley wires, span Wires etc; The' necessary bolts or screws for connecting the counterpart.sleeve parts have countersunk nutsmand heads asthe casemay be leaving an entirely unbroken exterior surface as most clearly illustratedin Figs. 1,2 and 4.

flLQA trolley-wheel guard' and mountingdevlceV comprising anfelongatedf tapered .metal sleeve, trolley-wheel mounting'means in the larger end thereof and means at the opposite end for securing Y'the guard to the free end of a trolleyvpole afrdin alinenient therewith, said sleeve comprisingftwo counterpart memberaseparable longitudinally in a vertical plane, the entire sleeve formed with-rounded exterior contour,and a downwardly p'ening. mechanism chamber, intermediate the ends ',tjthe 'sleeve,'a mechanism housing removably Vretained in said chamber, trolley rope holding means withinsaid latter housing and further means ltherein for releasing said trolley rope auton'ratially when the trolley rope and the pole are brought into predetermined positions relative to each other. l i

2. .A trolley-wl'ieel.mountingy and guard device comprisin'gan'elongated tapered metal member the smaller and front end of which is securable rigidly tothe free end of atrolley pole and means at the V,wider and' rear end of thememberfor retaining ai trolley-wheelin a vertical plane with only predetermined exterior parts of said trolley wheel -exposed Voutwardly of the member, means forwardofthetrolley-wheel part in said member, for vrele'asably retaining one end ofa trolley-retrieving rope, said lattermeans comprising a long itu'dinalfdownwardly open housing, an L-shaped triggerslidably `and pivotally vmounted in'said openirigja spring-pressed pivoted locking lever normally 'engaging the trigger member with its free end, said'trolley-rope secured to said trigger `below lthe point of contact of the locking lever, said .trigger adapted to be rocked to a limited extent, by the retrieving rope and formed with a heel arranged to disengage the locking lever when the retrieving rope reaches a predetermined position relative to the trolley pole;

e `3. Atrolley-wheel mounting and guard device comprisingvan' elongated tapered metal member thesrnallerrand front 'end .of which is securable rigidly to the freeend of a trolley pole and means at; theQwider and'rear end of the member for retaininga trolley wheel in a vertical plane with only predetermined exterior parts of the said `trolley-,wheel exposed outwardly of the member,

prising alongitudinal vdownwardly opening housing', an'f L-shaped trigger slidably and pivotally mounted in said opening, a spring-pressed-pivoted locking lever normally engaging the trigger member with its free end, said trolley rope secured to said trigger below the point of contact of the locking lever, said trigger adapted to be rocked to a limited extent and formed with a heel arranged to disengage the locking lever when the retrieving rope reaches a predetermined position relative to the trolley pole, and a transverse pivoting pin' through said trigger, parallel rails in the mechn anism housing one at each side, but said rails terminating in spaced relation to the front end of the housing to provide an outlet for the trigger when the latter is released, opposite end parts of said pin adapted to bear and ride on the inner faces of said rails.

CARL A. KESSLER. 

